Were Radharani & Balarama elder than Krishna? Why?
RADHARANI & BALARAMA – BOTH WERE ELDER THAN KRISHNA
Harish Kumar Bhagwani asked like this:
“In the pastimes, Radharani appears later to Lord Krishna while Lord Balaram appears earlier to Him. Is there any special significance of the same as well?”
REPLY:
Actually, Radharani & Balarama elder than Krishna.
I think that you are thinking that Radharani took birth after Krishna just because we celebrate Her appearance day 15 days after that of Krishna.
The Thithi and star appears after the appearance day of Krishna.
But, Radharani appeared before Krishna appeared, but the thithi and star comes after the thithi/ star of the appearance of Krishna.
(Why Radharani is at Left side of Krishna & Balarama at Right side? READ HERE!)
Let me give an example. This is like, you are observing your birth day on Sep-15, but your elder brother observes on Sep-5. The difference is, you appeared in the year of 1980, but, he appeared in the year of 1975.
Birthday is later, but birth year is earlier.
There is another side of this matter.
The book namely “Sri Gaura-Govindarcana – Smarana-Paddhati”, composed by Sripada Dhyanachandra Goswami says like this:
sārdhasapta-dinottara-nava-māsādhika-pañca-daśa-varṢa-parimitaṁ Śrī-Kṛṣṇāsyā vayo jñeyam
‘’Kṛṣṇa’s eternal age is 15 years, 9 months, 7 1/2 day.’’
pañca-daśa-dinottara-māsa-dvayādhika-caturdaśa-varṢa
parimitaṁ vayo ’syā˙ jñeyam
‘’Śrī Rādhā’s eternal age is 14 years, 2 months, 15 days.’’
Thus, we can understand that Radharani is ALWAYS around 18–19 months younger than Lord Krishna.
(Life of Krishna with 16000 Queens in Dwaraka as seen by Narada! READ HERE!)
But, as far as the physical appearance on earth is concerned, Radharani appeared before Krishna to take part in the lilas of Krishna.
Balarama too appeared before Krishna so as to prepare the platform for the lilas of Krishna.
When Krishna appeared in the womb of devaki, Balarama who was in the womb already was taken out and kept in the womb of Yasotha.
So, Krishna must have appeared later than Balarama as Balarama was already there in the womb when Krishna appeared in the womb of Devaki.
The general perception is that Krishna makes all the arrangements ready before He comes here.
On that basis, most of the Gopis including His own energy Radhika, Gopas, Vraj vasis, etc had appeared before Krishna.
(Lord Krishna’s Appearance on Earth From Sri Brahma Vaivartha Purana! READ HERE!)
This can be known from Srimad Bhagavatham (10.1.24):
Lord Brahma further stated that Lord Balarama, who is also known as Sankarsana, would precede the Lord and serve Him in every respect:
vasudeva-kalanantah sahasra-vadanah svarat
agrato bhavita devo hareh priya-cikirsaya
“The foremost manifestation of Krsna is Sankarsana, who is known as Ananta. He is the origin of all incarnations within this material world. Previous to the appearance of Lord Krsna, this original Sankarsana will appear as Baladeva, just to please the Supreme Lord Krsna in His transcendental pastimes.”
All the participants in Krishna avatar appeared JUST TO PLEASE KRISHNA. So, most of them appeared before Krishna came and some appeared after Krishna came.
Hope you are now clear about why Radharani & Balarama elder than Krishna.
(KRISHNA AVATAR – ALL DATES RELATED TO ALL THE LILAS! READ HERE!)